The young Kilmister acquired the nickname Lemmy while at school, although he purported to have no idea where it came from.

It was later suggested that it referred to his constant pleas to "Lemmy a quid until Friday," as he struggled to service a growing addiction to slot machines.

His mother remarried when he was 10 and the family moved to north Wales, where Lemmy completed his schooling and took on a number of jobs including a stint at a local washing machine factory.

Having become enamoured of a girl from Stockport who was holidaying in the area, he followed her back to her hometown and became involved in the local music scene.

Distinct style

He spread his wings with a band called The Rockin' Vickers, who released three singles and rocked the Manchester music scene while dressed in clerical gear.

Lemmy moved to London in search of fame and fortune, where he had a stint as a roadie with Jimi Hendrix and briefly played in progressive rock band Opal Butterfly.

In 1972 he was recruited as bassist for the space-rock band Hawkwind, despite having played only rhythm guitar before.

Image copyrightDeccaImage caption
Lemmy (r) rocking with the Vickers

It was where I learned I was good at somethingLemmy on his time with Hawkwind

It helped him develop a distinct style of bass playing, which added a great deal to Hawkwind's sound.

He also sang lead vocals on the band's biggest hit, Silver Machine, after a previous effort by the band's usual vocalist was deemed too weak.

"It sounded like Captain Kirk reading Blowing in the Wind," Lemmy later recalled. "They tried everybody singing it except me. Then, as a last shot they said, 'Try Lemmy.' And I did it in one take or two."

Lemmy's tenure with Hawkwind ended abruptly when he was busted for drug possession on a tour of Canada in 1975.

He later claimed that his dismissal was due to 'pharmaceutical differences', his preference for amphetamines being in stark contrast to the rest of Hawkwind's love of more hallucinogenic substances.

Direction

Despite the falling-out, Lemmy had fond memories of his time with the band.

"In Hawkwind I became a good bass player," he told Classic Rock magazine in 2012. "It was where I learned I was good at something."

Lemmy decided to form his own band, "so that no-one can fire me again", and adopted the name Bastard, until it was gently pointed out that he would be unlikely to get a gig on Top of the Pops.

By 1977 the band were so disillusioned they agreed to split and put on a farewell show at The Marquee in London.

It became a turning point when a record producer at the gig offered them enough studio time to record a single.

Instead the band laid down 13 tracks that formed their first album, entitled Motorhead, which reached No 43 in the UK charts. It's probably the only rock album with the word "parallelogram" in the lyrics.

Lemmy's guttural vocals appealed to the fans and the punk influences in their blistering music tapped into the fast-changing music scene in the UK. Indeed Motorhead collaborated with punk outfit The Damned on a few occasions.

Imitators

It marked the start of the band's most successful period, which peaked with the release of their fourth album, Ace of Spades, in 1980.

The thunderous title track became the band's definitive anthem and appearances on Top of the Pops helped it stay in the UK charts for 12 weeks.

During the following three decades the band released no fewer than 17 further albums.

Image copyrightMark MarekImage caption
The style didn't change over the years

Lemmy stuck with the music formula of fast, driving rock that he'd adopted at the band's inception.

Despite a horde of imitators he also rejected any notion that Motorhead were a metal band, insisting that what they played was pure rock and roll.

Lemmy never made any secret of his drug and alcohol intake, which, while prodigious over the years, never seemed to sap his appetite for recording and playing.

In 2005 he was invited to address the Welsh assembly on the perils of drug-taking, and took the opportunity to call for the legalisation of heroin to remove the drug dealer from society.

In the same year Motorhead picked up a Grammy for their cover of Metallica's Whiplash.